Swim watch

Abstract

A watch device for use by a swimmer while swimming in a body of water. The watch device may generally comprise a housing, a location determining component disposed within the housing and operable to receive one or more satellite signals to determine a current geographic location of the housing, and a processing system. The processing system may synchronize the location determining component with the swimmer's arm movement so that the location determining component can determine the current geographic location of the housing.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A watch device for use by a swimmer while swimming in a body of water, the watch device comprising:
 a housing; 
 a location determining component disposed within the housing and operable to generate location information for the housing; and 
 a processing system disposed within the housing and coupled with the location determining component, the processing system operable to—
 determine a heading of the housing based on the location information generated by the location determining component, 
 determine a variation in the heading of the housing, and 
 identify a future swim route based on the location information generated by the location determining component and the variation in the heading of the housing. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The watch device of  claim 1 , wherein the location determining component comprises a global positioning system (GPS) receiver and an antenna. 
     
     
       3. The watch device of  claim 1 , wherein the location determining component is operable to determine current location information for the housing and the processing system is operable to identify the future swim route using the current location information and the variations in the heading of the housing. 
     
     
       4. The watch device of  claim 1 , further including a user interface operable to present an indication of the future swim route and receive course information. 
     
     
       5. The watch device of  claim 4 , wherein the processing system is operable to alter the future swim route using the location information, the variation in the heading of the housing, and the course information. 
     
     
       6. The watch device of  claim 1 , further including a user interface operable to present an indication of the future swim route. 
     
     
       7. The watch device of  claim 1 , further including a memory disposed within the housing and operable to store previous location information for the housing, wherein the processing system is operable to identify the future swim route using the location information generated by the location determining component, the variation in the heading of the housing, and a bearing determined from the previous location information. 
     
     
       8. The watch device of  claim 1 , further including a memory disposed within the housing and operable to store previous location information for the housing, wherein the processing system is operable to identify the future swim route using the location information generated by the location determining component, the variation in the heading of the housing, and the previous location information. 
     
     
       9. The watch device of  claim 1 , further including a user interface operable to receive information from the swimmer, wherein the processing system is operable to identify the future swim route using the location information generated by the location determining component, the variation in the heading of the housing, and the received information. 
     
     
       10. The watch device of  claim 9 , wherein the received information is selected from the group consisting of a starting location, an ending location, one or more waypoints, a total distance, total laps, total time, a lap distance, and a total distance. 
     
     
       11. The watch device of  claim 1 , further including a memory disposed within the housing and operable to store previous geographic locations of the housing, wherein the location determining component is operable to determine a current location information of the housing and the processing system is operable to identify a deviation in the identified future swim route by comparing the current geographic location of the housing with the previous geographic locations of the housing. 
     
     
       12. The watch device of  claim 11 , wherein the processing system is operable to identify a desired correction to guide the swimmer back towards the identified future swim route. 
     
     
       13. The watch device of  claim 12 , further including a display disposed within the housing and operable to present an indication of the desired correction. 
     
     
       14. The watch device of  claim 12 , further including a speaker disposed within the housing and operable to audibly communicate an indication of the desired correction. 
     
     
       15. The watch device of  claim 12 , further including a vibrating element disposed within the housing and operable to vibrate to indicate the desired correction. 
     
     
       16. The watch device of  claim 12 , further including a heads-up display operable to guide the swimmer back towards the identified future swim route. 
     
     
       17. The watch device of  claim 16 , further including light emitting portions presented within the heads-up display and operable to guide the swimmer back towards the identified future swim route.